The NFL never tires, that's for sure.

Vikings Head Coach Kevin O'Connell and General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah spent some time Tuesday fielding questions from national reporters at the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.

Naturally, a chunk of questions revolved around Minnesota selecting its 2025 starting quarterback: Does the team return Sam Darnold, who is scheduled to be a free agent in March, or roll with J.J. McCarthy?

"My No. 1 priority is, regardless of the circumstances that either I'm stepping into, or, in some cases, the player we acquire or bring in are stepping into, the goal is that we leave them in a place where they can start their journey with the Minnesota Vikings and play good football – and that has happened," O'Connell said. "I've had great dialogue with Sam from the time the season ended up until very, very recently, and I think my relationship with Sam has grown to a point where the respect level is sky high.

"This process is going to play out both [in the] short-term and long-term for the Minnesota Vikings," O'Connell continued. "And Sam is in a position where the NFL thinks he can play quarterback at a high level, so that's a really good thing, and I feel very proud to be a part of helping him get to this point."

Adofo-Mensah noted the Vikings try to "not be as binary with the quarterback conversation as others are, where either, 'you're one of the top three, or you're nobody' " and said they like their options.

The 2024 quarterback room was full of intrigue, with Darnold, McCarthy and Daniel Jones — each a top-10 draft selection in their respective classes — as well as Nick Mullens and Brett Rypien. Jones was added in late November and Mullens was the only player other than Darnold who appeared in a game.

On McCarthy's development, which was delayed from a physical standpoint when he suffered a season-ending meniscus injury in Minnesota's first exhibition (he passed for 188 yards and two touchdowns), Adofo-Mensah compared the 2024 first-rounder's mental progress to him learning Latin in high school.

"I don't know if that's a real language (it is), but you get conversational," Adofo-Mensah said. "You're able to not just go out to dinner, but have a conversation with somebody, learn about somebody. So he's conversational in our language, in our offensive language – understanding the why, the intent behind things. You want to be able to go out there and play free and let his talent take over. And so all these steps, all the learning he's done this past year is going to allow him to be able to do that. We're excited about the makeup of him. He's been everything we want him to be, and we're excited about his future."

Obviously, that's tied for the time being to what happens with Darnold.

Adofo-Mensah reiterated his end-of-season thinking that the club is trying its darndest to holistically view Darnold's 2024 season, aiming not to overweight his final eight quarters without discarding them.

"It's a tough exercise, but I want to make sure that we're continuing in saying we're so proud of what he did for us. We're so proud of this team. We didn't end the way we wanted to, but a lot of good things happened," Adofo-Mensah stated. "We've continued to lay the foundation for the team we want to be."

Here are four more takeaways from O'Connell's and Adofo-Mensah's podium sessions.

1. Going down the line

O'Connell began his combine press conference by addressing the interior of the offensive line, which felt fitting as it was one of the initial topics he covered after the Wild Card loss, labeling it an area to solidify.

The Vikings coach assured his goal isn't to replace players, per se, but to strengthen the o-line overall.

"It was more just an emphasis on how I believe we need to play," O'Connell expressed. "We need to be able to have a level of execution and a level of physicality that I think holds up over 17 games, and then, as we learned this year, we've got to find a way – after playing really well in December, which was a goal of ours – we've got to find a way to get back in the dance and put our best foot forward in January."

Adofo-Mensah added his insights pertaining to trench evaluation on both sides of the ball: "At the end, we're trying to be one of those last four teams, first, and then try to be one of the last teams standing," he said. "And to play January football, there's a certain way you've got to play. You've got to be able to control the ball on offense, and you've got to be able to get after the passer sometimes with just four."

Media pundits galore have raved about the depth of offensive and defensive line talent in the 2025 class.

"The majority of college football is now such a space game. And everybody always wants to talk about the players who play in space with the ball in hand, run after catch, the defensive structures that have to play against that, the athleticism of the quarterback continuing to be something that shows up more and more and more, especially at the college level, but I think linemen, as well, and that line-of-scrimmage game has also translated to it being a space game [predicated on] athleticism and different movements, and it's more than just power and physicality. There's different layers to it," O'Connell elaborated. "I'm in the very initial stages of getting to know this year's group, but I can tell you that there's a lot of versatility in the group; guys that have played multiple spots – tackles that have the ability to play maybe all five spots across the offensive line, guards that can bump out and play tackle, guards that can play center and where they project over their career might be different early. They might be a great pencil-in kind of player at this position, but we really see a top tier caliber player growing at another position."

2. Running back Renaissance?

One reporter asked Adofo-Mensah if Saquon Barkley's and Derrick Henry's successes in 2024 will alter the market of a position that has seemingly lost value year after year after year for quite some time now.

"It's probably accurate to say that, but you also named two unbelievable names that might be getting Gold Jackets one day when their careers are over. So I think it's about the person that is up in the discussion," Adofo-Mensah offered. "But, you know, that was probably a position that maybe did get to a place where, you know, markets are perfectly efficient in a short period of time. I think long term, they typically get to their right water. That's a position that, obviously, if you have the front to be able to block for them, they can change games, and they can really impact not just your offense but your defense."

A tremendous running back can tremendously affect ball control and clock management. He can help wear on defenders and put a pass rush on its heels. Adofo-Mensah's succinct description was perfect.

They can change games.

Knowing that, and all signs indicating a 12-foot-deep pool of draftable backs – with several mocked, consistently, as first-rounders – what's Adofo-Mensah's stance on the position and their draft-ability?

It depends significantly on the potential ceiling of a player, what he can accomplish while he's under contract below market value, and additionally on chances of sustaining a second contract for that player.

"That's all we're trying to do when you bring in players of high assets, you're trying to overcome other aspects of your team," Adofo-Mensah said. "No matter what position that is. And so if you have that unique skill set and a player, you should go do that, and that might be in the first round, might be in the fifth round. This is a really good class of running backs in the draft, so I will be excited to get a look at it."

3. Comparing apples to apples

Scrutiny follows the combine — "the underwear Olympics" — like a shadow.

A slow 40-yard dash time could push a player down a team's draft board. And vice-versa, of course.

Technology advancements, however, have diminished the total impact of a player performing greatly or poorly in athletic testing stations at the combine and pro days – because there's sometimes a difference, and occasionally a stark one, in 40 speed and play speed. And NFL clubs care far more about the latter.

Adofo-Mensah's "speed" assessment and the importance of the 40 has evolved, generally, to boot.

"When I was first starting out, I tried to ask scouts, really just experienced people, 'Why do you look at it the way you do intuitively?' " Adofo-Mensah shared. "Now, we have different measures with player tracking and different things like that, but you've always gotta make sure that you're not trying to, you know, use a weapon of math destruction. … Just because somebody's running at full speed, you've got to make sure the context is right – right? – and make sure that you're comparing apples to apples. So we do a lot of great work to get it to a place where we feel good about it, but it's not going to be perfect; we kind of use those measures against each other, and, go from there and combine the information with what our scouts see, what our coaches see, and then we'll go from there."

Adofo-Mensah cited "some great third parties" that have aided Minnesota's scouting department with swaths of information that's especially helpful to study smaller-school players with limited snaps on film.

4. Collaborative coaching, scouting processes

Earlier this month, O'Connell expressed his 2024 AP NFL Coach of the Year award is a team achievement.

Was it a humble nod to his players' execution? Absolutely. Was it an exaggeration? Not really.

Both O'Connell and Adofo-Mensah touched on the collaborative processes that were imperative to Minnesota's resounding success last season. Coaching-wise, O'Connell prefers many cooks in the kitchen.

"Flo' (Defensive Coordinator Brian Flores), rightly so, gets a ton of credit for what they've been able to accomplish on the defensive side. But I think about Daronte Jones and Mike Siravo and Marcus Dixon and Mike Pettine, and some of these guys that have made up, kind of, the thinktank that Flo' leans so heavily on," said O'Connell, pointing out that communication is equally instrumental on offense and special teams. "Those guys are always meeting. They're always talking, exchanging ideas, and what comes out of that is some pretty cool stuff. And then the best part is their ability to coach it and teach it."

Having the right leaders in place is one component – another is having enough of them.

"I believe in having a set of eyes coaching you every single rep you take," O'Connell continued. "That helps players, but what it also does is develop coaches, and I think a great example of that is a guy that was our assistant quarterbacks coach, assistant coordinator – on the journey of titles that Grant [Udinski] had in Minnesota – he's now an offensive coordinator and prepared for that moment in the NFL."

The Vikings joint efforts are commonplace on the scouting side, as well.

Lessons gathered from last year's free agency efforts, for instance, can be applied this spring because of department continuity – and the realization that what Adofo-Mensah's staff did last cycle worked well.

"As a group, you build this collective memory, this collective decision-making soul," Adofo-Mensah remarked. "I remember those conversations with my executive staff, and Kevin, who I treat as another member of our staff, and talking about potential options at quarterback, and if we do this, what are the other moves we can make? You go back and look at those meetings, and it's execution after execution."

Adofo-Mensah's keys to replicate free agency success are intentionality in planning, creativity and belief.

"A lot there, obviously, wasn't seamless, wasn't perfect, but we had a great offseason in that regard, and it's really just being creative with our ideas and just continuing to go forward," Adofo-Mensah concluded.